UW-River Falls' Gallenberg Takes on Presidency of NARRU

October 15, 2013 – Dale Gallenberg, Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls has taken on the presidency of the Non-land-grant Agricultural and Renewable Resources Universities (NARRU) for 2013-14. He assumed the role at their annual meeting at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, Oct. 7-9. UW-River Falls hosted the annual meeting of NARRU in 2012.  

Two previous deans from UW-River Falls have served as presidents with predecessor organizations of NARRU:  James Dollahon from 1975-77 and Gary Rohde from 1984-85. 

NARRU represents 60 campuses across 13 states with the goal of providing a means for sharing ideas and strategies to solve common problems, explore opportunities to strengthen academic, research, and outreach programs, and foster the association, recognition, and support by the public member institutions.  

NARRU and its predecessor organizations have been strong advocates for capacity building funding at the national level, analogous to the capacity funding already dedicated to land-grant institutions and the Hispanic-serving institutions. The non-land-grant institutions are playing an increasingly important role in producing graduates for the agricultural industry.  Recent data from the Food, Agriculture and Education Information System (FAEIS), indicate that non-land-grant colleges of agriculture enroll more than 25 percent of the undergraduate students in agriculture, natural resources, and related programs across the U.S.  

A capacity building grants program for non-land-grants was first authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill. Through the efforts of former Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) and others, an appropriation of $4.5 million first appeared in the FY12 USDA budget; funding was also appropriated in FY13. UW-River Falls was the recipient of funds from the FY13 grant competition. The successful proposal to examine the effects of nutrition on beef cattle reproductive performance was submitted by Justin Luther, associate professor of Animal Science and Amy Radunz, assistant professor of Animal Science. Authorization and appropriation of this capacity building grant program within USDA remains the top legislative priority for NARRU.